Branksome Hall Celebrates Transgender Alumni In Magazine Cover

One Toronto all-girls school is hoping to educate the community on what gender transition entails.

Branksome Hall, a private school for girls near the city's downtown core, released their annual winter alumni magazine The Read featuring two transgender men on the cover, former students Andy Sprung and Reed Wanless. Inside, they detail their unique gender transition stories.

Tanya Pimenoff, editor of the magazine, says working on this issue has educated her about the transgender community in general.

â€śAt our reunion in May 2014, one of our senior students met Reed Wanless, who attended the dinner," Pimenoff tells The Huffington Post Canada. "This chance meeting inspired the girls who were part of Branksomeâ€™s student-run Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) to invite Reed to attend one of their meetings.

"We soon learned of Andy Sprungâ€™s gender transition as well â€” two stories of two changed lives. Reed and Andy both had very positive experiences during their years at Branksome."

In September 2015, the school established a Transgender Working Group (TWG), a team dedicated to creating guidelines to educate the community about the needs of transgender students. The TWG also reviews research and human rights policy to draft additional policies for the school.

â€śWhat we set out to do, through the cover stories of this issue of The Read and the newly established TWG, was to educate our community on the topic of 'being transgender' â€” a topic that is important and necessary in todayâ€™s changing times,â€ť Pimenoff says.

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Following her trial for leaking classified government documents, Chelsea Manning sent shockwaves through the nation when she announced her transgender identity and asked for the public's support.
"As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me," Manning said in a statement. "I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible."

Cassidy Lynn Cambell, 16, made history in September when her peers voted the teen homecoming queen at her California high school.
Immediately following her win, Campbell became the victim of online bullying and harassment for her win, inspiring her to pose for the "NOH8 Campaign." Her win became one of the first in an incredible year of victories for transgender and gender non-conforming students at their respective homecoming events across the country.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" season three contestant and transgender model Carmen Carrera unexpectedly became the subject of a viral Internet petition in early November. The petition called for Victoria's Secret to hire the showgirl as the company's first transgender model in its annual fashion show. Though Victoria's Secret did not respond to the Carrera petition, the model has claimed that she will campaign to be included in next year's show.

In light of recent controversy surrounding McDonald's treatment of the company's employees, one Washington franchise of the fast food chain impressively allowed transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The letter read,
We respect the rights of all customers and employees. We believe all people must have access to safe and dignified bathroom facilities regardless of their gender identity or expression. Therefore, the following policy has been adopted for this restaurant at 1530 3rd Avenue ... Employees and customers may use any restroom that corresponds with and is based upon the gender identity they publicly and exclusively assert or express.

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Looks like some things never change.

DC Comic fans were introduced to Alysia in "Batgirl" #19 in early April, who went on to reveal that she is transgender during a conversation with Barbara Gordon (Batgirl). The move made Alysia not only the first DC Comics transgender character but the first transgender character in mainstream comics.

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California passed such legislation in early July, inspiring this iconic freakout by "Fox and Friends" and Michelle Malkin.

Other states also met these bills with resistance, with one Arizona lawmaker, John Kavanagh, attempting to push through legislation that would prosecute transgender people for using a public restroom if their appearance didn't match the listed gender on their identification.
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In January 2012, Argentina passed a Gender Identity Law that enables citizens to change their names and government-sanctioned sex on official documents without approval from a judge or doctor. In late September, 6-year-old Lulu became the first minor to legally change their sex on a government document since officials initially passed the legislation.

Prior to California passing legislation that extended rights in public schools to transgender minors, Ashton Lee, a transgender teenager, petitioned California Governor Jerry Brown to sign the legislation. Not only did Lee deliver a petition to Brown that contained over 5,700 signatures, but the teen also testified in front of the California Senate Education Committee about the bill's necessity to protect and value transgender individuals within the public school system.

Domaine Javier, a nursing student at California Baptist University, revealed to the world that she was transgender in an MTV episode of "True Life." The university's response? Accusations of fraud followed by expulsion because Javier had given her gender as female on her admissions application. She went on to sue the institution.

During a historic year for LGBT athletes, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Fallon Fox came out as transgender in an early March interview with Outsports. "I'm technically, legally, physically and mentally female. Everything about me is female," she stated. "I happen to fall into the transgender category, but I rather describe myself as a woman first, transsexual woman second."